tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197181901399970306.post2346131869293291810..comments2021-04-10T21:42:10.574-07:00Comments on CTCS 587: TV Theory Spring 2016: Core Post 3Tara McPhersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09874394027026185133noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197181901399970306.post-52450888146911478372016-02-24T07:02:49.227-08:002016-02-24T07:02:49.227-08:00Thanks for this great post, Zeke! The only thing I...Thanks for this great post, Zeke! The only thing I love more than TV from the '80s and '90 is commercials from the era—especially ones that raise such important questions. Just to historicize a bit, I think it's important to say that this different levels of blackness has come up through the history of sports, most notably before Jordan/Barkley in boxing with Floyd Patterson and Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay when they fought in '65). I wonder if this is something inserted into the discourse by white journalist looking for some "better" (whiter) black man on which to hang their hat (Jordan has always been seen as somehow outside the standard racial boundaries). <br /><br />And when talking basketball commercials on TV, I think it's important to mention Spike Lee's Mars Blackmon spots for Nike Jordans from 1989 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nl0w2Eyj_k) and how totally revolutionary that was. This was part of a bigger marketing push into the black market and relates to the work of Sonny Vaccaro and the historic stresses of amateur athletics and sports merchandise (shoes). This also relates to TV spaces like the golden years of MTV when they had "Yo! MTV Raps" on in the afternoon and music fans of all races watched. <br /><br />It also is an important moment as it got white males (urban and suburban) into a closer proximity with their black cohort and led to the rise in popularity of ESPN SportsCenter and icons there like Stewart Scott (another Tar Heel), who brought "black" basketball language to a white audience. The fact that any of us might say "my bad" when we screw something up is related to all of this. A phrase that comes from the basketball court—a totally marginalized space through the 1970s—emerged into rather common non-racialized parlance though the push of people like Vaccaro, Jordan, Lee, Barkley, Scott (and Manute Bol).Aaronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02815024073421148305noreply@blogger.com